Synopsis for August 10, 2001

School-associated homicide rates are highest near the start of each school semester, while suicide rates are generally
higher in the spring semester.

PRESS CONTACT:
Mark Anderson, M.D., M.P.H.

CDC, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control(770) 488–4410

New information from a CDC study may help school administrators in better planning and implementing violence prevention programs. In analyzing
school-associated violent deaths since the beginning of the 1992 school year, CDC researchers found that student homicide rates are typically
highest near the start of the fall and spring semesters. Student suicide rates were higher during the spring semester. Over the seven-year
study, CDC confirmed 209 school-associated violent deaths. The latter equates to an average of 1 student homicide event every 7 school days, and
1 student suicide event every 31 school days. Additional violence prevention information is available on the home page of CDC's National Center
for Injury Prevention and Control at: http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/.

Effectiveness of a Middle School Vaccination Law — California, 1999–2001

School entry laws are perhaps the only way of assuring that very high proportions of the adolescent population are
protected from vaccine preventable diseases.

PRESS CONTACT:
Daniel Fishbein, M.D.

CDC, National Immunization Program(404) 639–8797

Numerous professional organizations recommend that all adolescents in the United States should have a routine health visit, at which time those
not fully immunized as children should receive up to four recommended vaccines (hepatitis B, a measles containing vaccine, varicella, and
tetanus), and other preventive services and counseling. In spite of numerous recommendations and practice guideline, many adolescents are still
not up to date for these recommended vaccines. This evaluation of a middle school suggests that laws and other types of vaccination requirements
are an effective means of increasing coverage and therefore assuring protection among adolescents, as has been shown in children of other ages.

Effectiveness of School-Based Programs as a Component of a Statewide Tobacco Control Initiative — Oregon, 1999–2000

A new study from the state of Oregon and CDC shows that comprehensive school programs can be an effective part of a
statewide comprehensive effort to prevent and reduce tobacco use.

The Oregon Health Division found that between spring 1999 and spring 2000, smoking rates among eighth graders declined significantly more in a
self-selected sample of schools funded to implement CDC's school tobacco prevention guidelines than in a comparison group of non-funded schools.
Overall, students in the sample of funded schools in 2000 were about 20 percent less likely to smoke than students in non-funded schools. In
addition, among the funded schools, the study found a strong dose-response effect between how fully schools implemented CDC's guidelines and how
much smoking rates declined. Between 1999 and 2000 rates declined from 14.2 to 8.2 percent in schools with the highest implementation scores,
from 17.8 to 13.9 percent in schools with middle scores, and from 17.1 to 15.6 percent in schools with the lowest scores.